Your Summon is Pink
by Lord Dragon Claw
Summary: Attempting to summon a creature without a Contract is literally gambling with your soul. However, Uzumaki Naruto is extremely lucky when it comes to gambling and manages to summon something that won't kill him outright.
1. Sur-PRISE!

**Your Summon is Pink**

by 5007 (aka Lord Dragon Claw)

Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto. MLP belongs to Hasbro.

Chapter One: Sur-PRISE!

00000

Konohagakure no Sato (Hidden Village of the Leaves) was the primary military base for Fire Country. Konoha Medical Center, situated near the center of said "village", was a bastion of modern medical ninja techniques and technologies. While a portion of the complex was dedicated to civilian matters and mundane procedures, like birthing children and tooth extraction, the majority of it had been built like a fortress. Various injured ninja had a habit of trying to check out of hospital before they were fully healed, especially the Akimichi (the food was terrible, they frequently said). The walls were built of granite with seals carved into the walls for added strength and nullification of Doton (Earth Release) techniques. The wooden paneling on both sides of the walls (for insulation) was made from special trees that were fed water-natured chakra at regular intervals throughout life, both for fireproofing and additional strength. They even used special glass for the windows that shattered in such a way to prevent injury when people leapt out of them (leaping into any of the buildings through said windows had the opposite effect and usually resulted in the intruder being strapped to a gurney).

Sarutobi Hiruzen, the Sandaime Hokage (Third Fire Shadow), had signed the building permits several decades earlier and was once again marveling at all the progress that had been done since Tsunade's, his prized student's plans of a medical center optimized to treat ninja had been implemented; he couldn't count the number of lives that it had helped save, both in the short- and long-term. Before he could enter the building, his squad of four white-porcelain-masked ANBU (Special Black-Ops Squad) silently materialized around him and took their usual positions. Two of them placed themselves on either side of the door while the third covered their leader's back and the fourth shinobi entered through the doors to check for ambushes or other potential threats. After the ANBU inside the building had given the all-clear sign, Hiruzen entered, flanked by the two shinobi guarding the doors while the last one had his back.

It was a confusing dance to watch, but the personal guard of the Hokage performed this choreography everywhere they went, always covering all possible angles of attack. They also did it with such fluidity and speed that the Hokage didn't even have to slow his stride as he walked through the double doors of the hospital.

The old Hokage marched to the front desk where he was met with the icy gaze of the Branch Family Hyuuga secretary manning his station.

"Evening, Hokage-sama," was his curt greeting.

"Good evening," replied the older ninja. "I understand that Jiraiya of the Sannin has been admitted. Could I bother you for his room number?"

00000

The old man was allowed into the hospital room almost immediately. The Sandaime Hokage sighed when he saw Jiraiya, the Toad Sage, in the hospital bed, his leg in traction. While the Sandaime was a seventy-year-old man, Jiraiya was a physically-fit fifty-year-old with long, spiky white hair, some face paint, and a horned metal headband engraved with the kanji for "oil".

"Odd that you were the one who ended up in the hospital," chuckled the Hokage.

"Keep that attitude up, Sensei, and you won't be getting the next issue of my book," threatened the Toad Sage.

Hiruzen smirked. "Then I suppose that I'll have to arrange that you only get male nurses for the remainder of your stay, now won't I?"

Jiraiya's mouth opened and closed a few times before he shrugged and shook his head. "I suppose that's checkmate."

"What of Naruto? Did you have him sign the Toad Contract like we planned?"

The Sannin blinked a couple of times. He put his hand to his chin. "I taught him the seals for summoning, but I tried to help him improve his control before he started."

"And?" The Hokage was getting twitchy. It was almost as if he was worried something bad was going to happen.

"Well, he used too much chakra and in the end blew up the streambed we were standing on. I went tumbling down the mountain and my leg got caught between a couple of boulders."

There was a moment of silence.

The Hokage groaned. "He didn't sign the contract, did he?"

"Well, uh, no."

Sarutobi Hiruzen palmed his face. "Did you at least explain to him how dangerous it is to try using the summoning jutsu when you aren't contracted with any creature?"

Jiraiya paled. "No... He's going to practice it anyway, isn't he!?"

The Hokage turned to one of his ANBU shadows. "Tenzo, find Naruto and bring him to me!"

"Yes, Hokage-sama."

In a swirl of leaves, the masked ninja was gone.

00000

A twelve-year-old (almost thirteen) boy with golden blonde hair, lively, blue eyes, and whisker marks seemingly tattooed on his cheeks growled in frustration as he sat down, cross-legged, in the middle of a clearing, unzipping his orange and blue jacket to release some body heat.

"Did that Pervert-Sage ditch me?" he murmured.

Naruto hadn't been able to find Jiraiya since the explosion. He'd have to remember how he did that - could be a nice surprise for anyone who got a hold of him. The blonde shook his head.

_Not what I need to be focusing on anyway,_ he thought. He looked to the sun to see that he still had a few hours of daylight left. Nodding to himself, he decided to practice a bit.

His hands flashed through the signs for boar, dog, monkey, rooster, and sheep. He did it again. And again. He was repeating the signs to increase his speed before attempting the jutsu. Jiraiya may have only been training him for a few days, but the lessons had really stuck. He had already learned to think in different ways.

Once he was able to do the hand signs in under a second, he figured he was done practicing. When he heard the sharp cawing of a crow and searched for the origin of the sound he spotted the bird in a tree. The sun was directly behind it - only ten minutes of daylight left. He'd try summoning just once and then he would go to Ichiraku's. He'd look for Jiraiya tomorrow.

He bit his thumb, channeled all of the chakra he could muster (despite the fact he still couldn't consciously reach his secondary chakra source), flashed the five signs, and slammed the palm of his hand down onto the ground.

"Kuchiyose no jutsu!" (Summoning Technique)

Summoning without a contract is incredibly dangerous. Doing so would be like gambling with one's soul. One could summon a demon, an angry dragon, an irate giant snake, or any number of deadly things. There was no telling what a summoning could bring out.

Naruto was gifted with extremely good luck when it came to gambling - and he was wagering his soul and that of the Kyuubi's. He had a one-in-a-million chance to even survive an uncontracted summoning, but when it comes to people like Naruto...

"Sur-PRISE!" cried out the summon from within the smoke, confetti and balloons suddenly appearing from within and going everywhere.

Naruto found himself face-to-face with what appeared to be a bright pink horse with a darker pink mane standing on its hind legs. It wore a skintight, black bodysuit with ceramic armor plates (also pink) placed in strategic positions on its body. Around its neck was some kind of jeweled necklace with a balloon-shaped pink gem. Covering its muzzle was a black veil, making its bright blue eyes seem brighter by comparison.

The horse summon wrapped its forehooves around Naruto, enveloping him in a hug. Needless to say, Naruto was floored, both because he had been expecting a toad summon and because he'd never really been hugged before. The horse smelled like cookie dough and cake frosting, of all things.

"I'm so excited! This is the first time anypony has been summoned! Are you excited!? You're going to be the first Pony Summoner in the history of the world! If I knew this was going to happen I would have baked a cake to celebrate!"

"That... sounds like fun?" Naruto replied hesitantly. He tentatively returned the hug. "So, you're a 'pony'?"

"Yes! An earth pony mare! My name's Pinkamena Diane Pie, but you can call me Pinkie! All my friends do!" She nuzzled his face as she swung him around before setting him down again and pulling back to get a good look at his face. "What's your name?"

"Uzumaki Naruto. And I'm going to be Hokage some day!" He smiled at her - while she wasn't what he was expecting, he already liked her. "But I'm training for the Chuunin Exams and I was kind of expecting to summon a toad."

Pinkie snorted. "Toads are just big meanies! Wait, you're in training?"

Naruto nodded.

"You should train in Equestria! Especially since you need to see Princess Luna to sign our Summoning Contract."

"Wait, what?"

And with an explosion of smoke, they were gone.

00000

Tenzo landed in the middle of the smoke cloud, sighing as he realized that the equine had already taken Naruto to the Summon Realm.

_Maybe Hokage-sama knows something about these horse summons,_ he thought as he made his way back to the hospital.

00000

"I swear that child's going to kill me before I can give him my hat!" fumed Sarutobi. He turned back to Tenzo. "And you say it appeared to be a pink horse summon?"

The ANBU Captain nodded.

Jiraiya rubbed his chin before summoning a small toad. "Hey, Kusari-Gama, I have a question."

The pale green toad that carried a coiled chain on his back grunted. "'Sup?"

"Have you heard of any Horse Summon Clan?"

"Horse?" repeated Kusari. He sat back and closed his eyes in contemplation. "No horses. Sorry."

The Sage rubbed his temples as he sighed. "Sorry, Sensei."

As Sarutobi gripped the armrests of his chair more tightly due to the stress, the small toad croaked again.

"_Ponies_ though," he started as he opened his eyes. "Pony Summons do exist. They tend to keep to themselves and seem to be at war with most of the rest of the Summon Clans. They tend to not like us toads."

Sarutobi raised his eyebrow at the small toad's explanation. "Do you know if any of them are pink?"

Kusari nodded. "They come in all sorts of colors."

Jiraiya posed his question. "What other clans, if any, are they allied with?"

"That's a real short list," chuckled the small toad. "They are allied with five others - Griffins, Bulls, Zebras, Donkeys, and Minotaurs specifically - and have a long-standing cease-fire with the Monkeys."

"Thanks, Kusari-Gama," the Toad Sage sighed. "You may go now."

With a salute, the small toad was gone in a puff of chakra smoke.

All of the ninja in the room turned expectant eyes towards their Hokage who was wearing a contemplative expression.

"I'll have to see what Enma says," responded the old man.

00000

For a moment, Naruto thought Pinkie had killed him. He felt like a lake that is being sucked through a straw in under the course of a second, _while on fire_. He coughed up a lot of phlegm, the smoke burning his lungs for a bit, convincing him for a split-second that he was indeed on fire, when an appendage helped him to his feet while another patted his back, helping him spit out the last bit of errant mucus.

"Are you okay?" he heard Pinkie ask, concern evident in her voice.

"What happened?" Naruto croaked.

"Oh, I took you with me back to the Summon Realm!" she beamed, all worry about the boy's health apparently forgotten.

Naruto took a look around, now that the chakra smoke had cleared. He was in a bedroom of sorts, with pink-painted walls. Upon these walls were weapon racks holding all sorts of... baking utensils? In a crate in one corner several tanks marked as "Helium" sat next to a box filled with empty balloons. Near it was a calendar that had every day of the year upon it - and nearly every space had at least one name of some sort written within. Near that, on the back of the door, was a full-body mirror.

The bed was, unsurprisingly, covered with pink sheets and blankets. Near it was an open kennel in which a lizard of some sort was sleeping. Littered all over the floor were various bits of streamers, confetti, and all sorts of odd blueprints. Near a workbench in the far corner was some sort of bicycle-like contraption that had seen better days. Obviously, Pinkie was repairing it, but it didn't seem to have any way of moving along the ground. It might have been a submersible for all Naruto knew. Finally, against one of the walls surrounded by a pair of windows was a modest bookcase filled with a number of well-read books. Many of them had to do with chakra theory, ninja tactics, and siege weaponry, but there were plenty of cookbooks as well. Naruto could tell that they were not sorted in any specific fashion.

Naruto turned to see Pinkie sitting on her haunches smiling at him, hoping that he approved of her room. Seeing such child-like expectation on the pony's face cause Naruto to smirk.

"This is your room, right?"

She nodded vigorously. Naruto could have sworn he heard the sound of rocks rattling around inside of a wooden box but he ignored it.

"Much better than my place," he admitted as he scratched the back of his head.

Her eyes closed as she smiled behind her veil, looking very similar to how Kakashi-sensei smiled on occasion.

00000

Hiruzen puffed on his pipe as Enma paced the length of the private Sarutobi Underground Training Chamber.

"I was just a young primate," began the Monkey King, "when my father finally met with Celestia, Princess of the Ponies, to finally work out the terms of the cease-fire. That was eight hundred years ago..."

0-0-0-0

Son Gokuu, the Monkey King, grunted as his Four Silverspear Guards escorted him and his son to the summit of the hill both parties had agreed on. It was a mesa, really, sitting within the confines of Everfree Forest, a territory all summons considered to be neutral. As the Monkeys reached the center, a brilliant flash of light heralded the arrival of Princess Celestia, Goddess of the Sun, and Primary Monarch for the Pony Clan. Her escorts were an Earth Pony wearing heavy bladed armor with claw-like extensions on all four of her hooves, a Unicorn with a massive assortment of weaponry strapped to his armor, and two Pegasi, one wearing a sleek, form-fitting, black garb and the other in golden armor, blades attached to the first three primaries of each of his wings.

Gokuu nodded his head towards his Pony equivalent, getting a nod in return.

"We, the Monkey Clan, are tired of this war," stated the ape monarch.

"As are we," agreed Celestia, her pastel mane flowing in an ethereal wind. "I have already taken the initiative of silencing those of my subjects whom wish to take your territories from you."

Gokuu took a step back out of surprise. Enma was confused, but remained silent as his father had instructed.

"Wh-" the Monkey King began before composing himself. "What do you mean?"

"It is my understanding," explained the Pony monarch, "that even though hostilities between our clans began over two-hundred years ago after my sister had gone mad, the movements of the Monkey Clan had initially been attempts at restoring the order of day and night. As such military actions took the lives of Equestrians, my subjects began calling for revenge, and many wished to conquer Monkey territory in retaliation."

"That sounds about right," Gokuu responded, his guarded tone revealing nothing despite the relief he felt internally.

"While I cannot offer any of my territory in reparation, I will declare my current capital and the surrounding area to be part of the Everfree and abandon the palace and much of the treasure within to those who can take it."

He rubbed his chin. "It would be booby-trapped, wouldn't it?"

Celestia gave a small grin, but did not respond to the question vocally.

"One other condition I have," stated the Monkey King.

"Please elaborate." The tone of her voice, while polite, had absolutely no inflection whatsoever.

"My allies wish to not have to mention your Clan to summoners, even when directly asked about Ponies."

There was a long, tense moment where the guards of both monarchs prepared for a fight due to being uncertain if Celestia would agree or disagree with such a condition. Summon Clans that had living summoners had great prestige and political power in the Summon Realm, and by accepting such a term, Princess Celestia would potentially permanently hobble her Clan. But not accepting might cause the war to last longer.

Celestia needed time to reconsolidate her power and reorganize her government. Signing a cease-fire with the Monkeys (and by extension, their allies) would reduce the number of fronts she would have to fight on by a significant margin.

Celestia's eyes glowed with the light of the Sun for a split-second, filling her with a vision of the future - a young human male with sun-kissed hair kneeling before her, signing the Pony Contract at her hooves in its blood - before the vision suddenly vanished from her mind's eye. But she remembered it. Even knowing the potential problems this final term Gokuu presented to her could cause, she took it all into consideration.

"Would it be possible to change that condition to no mention of Ponies to any summoner except those that already have knowledge of our existence?"

0-0-0-0

"... and that is how the cease-fire agreement was signed," finished Enma. "Though the Toads did not agree to any terms..."

"This Celestia-hime," began Sarutobi, looking at his favorite summon. "You say she is the Sun kami?"

"Of the Summon Realm, yes."

"So, she wouldn't be in control of our own Sun?"

"I doubt it," replied Enma. "Her younger sister was the Moon kami and the more militant of the two. About a thousand years ago, the younger went mad and forced the Summon Realm into perpetual night, sparking a civil war in the Pony Clan. My father sent warriors and assassins to try and restore the balance, but many other Clans took the opportunity to try and steal some territory from the Ponies."

Tapping out his pipe, the Hokage refilled it with more tobacco and used a minor fire jutsu to ignite it. "What caused the balance of night and day to be restored?"

"Celestia-hime sealed her sister inside of the Moon."

The Hokage nodded. While harsh, the punishment seemed appropriately ironic in his mind.

The current Monkey King continued. "It is rumored that the younger sister has returned recently; during the Summer Solstice the night lasted several hours longer than normal. While this phenomenon supports these rumors, I have yet to see any evidence that the mad Pony monarch has been freed."

00000

"Sister?"

"Yes, Luna? What are you doing up at this time of day? It is noon."

"It felt as though one of our subjects hast answered a Summoning..."

"Indeed. Pinkie Pie, the Bearer of Laughter, answered an uncontracted Summoning."

The Goddess of the Night blinked. "Thou art not worried?"

"No, Luna. Ms. Pie can take care of herself."

Princess Luna nodded. "Good day to thee, Sister. I shall return to slumber and shall rise at dusk."

"Good day, Sister. Sleep well," bade Princess Celestia.

00000

Naruto found himself almost literally dragged through town. He could see many different Ponies - some that were definitely warriors and some that were certainly civilians. These Ponies came in a variety of colors and some were shaped like Pinkie, but he noticed two other breeds - some that had a horn in the center of the forehead, and others that had wings. All the Ponies he passed paused in their activities, gazing hopefully at Naruto. For a split-second, he was confused as to why, but then he remembered that no Pony had ever been summoned before. They must be hoping that he'd be their summoner!

_Well, I'm not going to let them down!_

A mint-colored unicorn with a powder-blue mane, amber eyes, and an apparatus made of wood on her back jumped into Pinkie's path, causing the pink mare to stop. The contraption on her back opened up to reveal a pair of puppet arms with disproportionately large hands that clamped down on Naruto's shoulders, though not hard enough to cause pain - only mild discomfort.

"OH MY GOSH!" squealed the unicorn. "A HUMAN!"

She then hugged Naruto with her forelegs. And her false arms.

The blonde child tentatively hugged her back.

"Hi Lyra!" chirped Pinkie.

00000

While many ponies are "civilians", nearly every single one has been combat trained to some extent. Some younger summon creatures only see ponies as "namby-pamby wimps" and often try to bully the equines. Fine examples of this are young dragons, who think that just because they breathe fire, fly, and can bathe in _lava_ without harm, ponies are easy pickings for raiding and pillaging.

One very good example is a raid from eighty years ago when four adolescent dragons attacked the settlement of Ponyville. While a number of homes were destroyed and many ponies injured, not a single one had been killed or crippled. The four young dragons were sent back to the nearest communal Wyrmnest. All four of the dragons had been mutilated in some way.

While many dragons still try to pick fights or kill other summon creatures, the wise ones never go after Ponies. Although friendly, the equines will not hesitate to deal harshly with anything that dared attack them if push comes to shove. Much like humans, in fact.

00000

Naruto found himself walking at a sedate pace with both Pinkie and Lyra.

Speaking of which, the unicorn mare was actually a civilian, but she had developed her puppetry techniques to such an extent that she could fight, potentially, thanks to her artificial arms. Lyra Heartstrings was obsessed with hands, for some reason. Even when the blonde child asked her why she liked hands so much, he couldn't make heads or tails of her explanation, so he dropped the issue.

"So," he began. "Where are we going?"

Pinkie blinked, putting her hoof under her veil to supposedly scratch her chin, before she suddenly gasped. "THAT'S RIGHT! I need to take you to my friend, Twilight Sparkle! She needs to let the Princesses know about you!"

Naruto suddenly found himself sitting on Pinkie's back. _Well, I guess she _is_ a horse, after all,_ he thought to himself.

"Sorry Lyra! I need to hurry hurry hurry!"

"GAH!" yelled the human as the pink mare sped off.

"'Salright!" Lyra called after them, a genuine smile plastered to her face.

00000

"While I do like to chat with you, Hiruzen, why bring up the subject of Ponies?" Enma asked.

"Our Jinchuuriki summoned one without a contract," replied the aged Hokage.

The Monkey King sat down. "That boy is lucky he still has his soul - imagine if he summoned a demon, or worse, a draconequus!"

Hiruzen steepled his fingers and leaned forward onto his desk. "I don't know what a draconequus is, but you are correct that he is lucky."

The old man took out his pipe and tapped the ashy remnants of his last smoke into his waste bin before grabbing some fresh tobacco from a drawer. A quick and minor fire jutsu later and the Sandaime's nicotine addiction was sated.

"When my successor, the Yondaime, sealed the Kyuubi into Naruto, I had hoped that the child would be seen as a hero."

Enma nodded. "You were always far too optimistic when it came to the quality of your own people, Hiruzen. Young Naruto was ignored at best, verbally abused at worst throughout his childhood, I take it?"

"Indeed," replied the wizened ninja. "Recently, Naruto has been able to turn the perceptions of a small few around. He counts them among his treasured people. Regardless, when it comes to luck, I think the boy may have inherited the luck of the kitsune."

The Monkey summon had connected the dots at this point. "So Naruto gambled with the Summoning jutsu and pulled a pony from my world, hence our earlier conversation."

"Yes, and the pony took him to the Summon Realm."

Enma laughed. "You don't have much to fear, Hiruzen. While ponies are vicious fighters, they are friendly enough outside of combat." Rubbing the back of his head, the Monkey continued. "Additionally, I'm not surprised that whichever pony Naruto summoned brought him to the Realm. Since it was unlikely that he summoned the Contract Bearer with his first try, he was taken to them."

00000

Naruto was surprised to see that Twilight lived inside a tree. And it was the public library to boot.

As Pinkie throttled her speed once they had arrived in view of the library, a relieved Naruto loosened the death grip he had held the pony's neck in. He rolled off of her back and landed on his buttocks.

"That," he began, gasping for air. "Was. Fast!"

"Yup!" the mare giggled. She then turned to the door of the tree/house/library and raised her hoof.

Tap tap tap tap tap. KNOCK KNOCK!

He could hear a female voice calling from inside.

"Oh Spike, could you get that!? I think it's Pinkie."

"Of course it's Pinkie," came the immediate retort from a young male voice. "She's the only pony who knocks like that."

Naruto sat up in time to see that what opened the door was not a pony, but a small purple lizard thing with green spinal frills.

"Hi Pinkie!" the creature greeted. It turned to look at Naruto with green, slitted, cat-like eyes. "What _is_ that?"

"A human," chirped the pink mare.

Before Naruto could speak, the lizard turned back to Pinkie. "Have you shown it to Lyra yet?"

Frowning, Naruto interrupted the conversation with his best impression of a haughty voice. "_It_ has already met Lyra and would appreciate not being talked about as if _it_ weren't present."

"HOLY GUACAMOLE IT TALKS!"

Naruto face-palmed.

00000

"Pinkie, can you help Spike with the refreshments?" Twilight asked as she led Naruto to a chair where he could sit.

"Okie-dokie-lokie!"

Twilight, a lavender-colored unicorn mare with a dark violet mane and tail, wore a loose-fitting black outfit. In her mane were two stripes: one purple and the other pink. She had a sheathed katana strapped to her back and wore metal bracers on her fetlocks. Upon her head she wore a weird crown thingy that had a six-pointed purple star gem mounted on it. Naruto idly noted that it looked a lot like the symbol he could see stitched into the flanks of her pants.

Naruto sat in the plush armchair Twilight indicated with a hoof. She then turned to one of the many bookshelves. Naruto saw a glow envelop her horn as well as a similar energy field wrap around a particular book on the shelf. Slowly, the tome floated towards her, pages flipping all the while, and stopped in front of her eyes.

Her purple eyes flitted several times between the tome and the young ninja.

"Huh," she sighed. "Are you sure you're a human?"

_... the Hell? _he thought. "May I see what you're looking at?"

The book rotated around. As soon as the page in question entered his field of vision, he started laughing hysterically.

"What's so funny?" the unicorn asked, obviously not getting the joke.

"That's a medical picture of the insides of a woman's body!"

"What!?" Embarrassed, Twilight tried to hide her blush behind the book.

"Here," he put his hand forward. "Let me help you find the one for the male body."

Naruto noticed that that the book and by extension Twilight's horn stopped glowing as soon as the book had been safely deposited in his hands. He thumbed through it until he found the appropriate diagram.

"I haven't fully studied human anatomy yet, but my insides look kinda like this," he said as he turned the book around.

Twilight blushed a bit. "I haven't even gotten to that book in my reading yet," she explained. "I only knew it contained information about humans because these books keep getting knocked off the shelves."

Naruto nodded. He sort of understood her problem, but only because he hadn't been able to read many books back home either - something about the public library never being able to keep his records up to date. He also swore that he always turned his books in early, but the librarian kept claiming that he turned them in late. After about the fourth time, Naruto simply gave up on trying to read.

_Still,_ Naruto thought, _I might be able to actually borrow books from _this_ library._

The energy field enveloped the tome once again and when Naruto felt a tug on it and he released it from his grasp. It closed itself and floated back to the shelf before the glow disappeared again.

"How do you do that?" Naruto asked.

"Do what?" Twilight responded, confused.

"That glowy thing that made the book float."

"You mean telekinesis?" She looked puzzled.

"She's a unicorn," Spike said as he carried a tray with a teapot and cups into the room. He set the tray on a short table in between Naruto and Twilight before sitting on an ottoman. "Asking a unicorn how she uses telekinesis is like asking you or I how we use our thumbs."

"Spike," the mare admonished. "It's 'you or me' not 'you or I'."

Pinkie bounced into the room with a small, round cake balanced on her head. Giving a wing she tossed the cake into the air and jumped right behind it.

"Hi-YAH!"

She landed in front of the desk with her eyes closed, body contorted into a dramatic pose, wielding in the crook of her fetlock a freshly used spatula coated with frosting and crumbs as four identically cut pieces of cake landed on conveniently placed plates hadn't been there before.

As she took a bow, Naruto couldn't help but clap. Spike was also applauding while Twilight was rubbing her face with a hoof.

"Pinkie," she began. "How many times have I asked you to not play with food in the library?"

Pinkie just grinned widely and instantly responded with: "Eleven!"

Twilight groaned as Naruto snickered.

00000

"So, Naruto," Twilight began. "Would you like to become a Pony Summoner?"

"Yeah," he replied. "You guys are pretty awesome!"

The unicorn nodded. She turned to Spike. "Take a letter."

The purple reptile pulled a scroll and a quill, seemingly from nowhere. "Right."

"Dear Princess Celestia, I am writing to you because we have a potential summoner sitting right here in the Ponyville Library. We request transportation to Canterlot so Uzumaki Naruto may sign the contract. Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle."

"... kay, elle, eee. Done," reported Spike. He suddenly breathed green fire at the scroll which quickly disintegrated into a dense cloud of smoke that flew out of the window. "It's on its way!"

"Wait," Naruto began. "You can breathe fire?"

"Well, I _am_ a dragon." Spike thrust his chest forward and held his head high - as high as he could, anyway.

Naruto scratched the back of his head. "Can dragons be summons?"

"Yes," responded Twilight. "But unlike other Summon Clans, dragons do not have a centralized contract. Each individual dragon has their own contract and their own requirements for being allowed to sign it."

"But you're allowed to sign any of their contracts in addition to ours!" Pinkie giggled.

Twilight continued from there. "Spike isn't old enough to generate his own contract yet, though."

Spike's face gained a downcast look, but he looked up when Naruto placed a hand on his head.

"Hey, cheer up! I'll sign yours when you get it!"

"Actually," retorted the dragon, "I won't have a contract for another fifty or so years."

"Then I'll have my grandchildren sign it! No worries!"

Spike beamed, showing his fangs. Suddenly, his cheeks puffed out and he turned away from the group. He belched out some flame and a scroll bearing a wax seal materialized from the smoke.

"Oh, a response from the Princess!" he exclaimed as he picked up the scroll and broke the seal.

"What's it say!?" Pinkie chanted several times while bouncing around the room like a bouncy ball on speed before Twilight stuck a hoof in her mouth.

"Dear Twilight Sparkle, Pinkamena Diane Pie, Spike, and Uzumaki Naruto," the dragon read. "I have arranged for a skywagon to pick the four of you up in five minutes. As there was another matter of business I was going to request your assistance with, it was already on its way. As Princess Luna has regained her place as Contract Bearer, she will also be in the throne room to receive you. Sincerely, Princess Celestia."

"'Another matter of business'?" quoted Twilight. "I wonder what she wanted me to do?"

"I'm more interested in finding out how the Princess knew Pinkie was here," said Spike.

"What's a 'skywagon'?" Naruto asked.

00000

"Oh, _that's_ a skywagon!"

A large carriage floated through the air pulled by four white pegasi in golden armor. All four of them had blue eyes and stoic expressions, even as they touched down in front of the library.

"Are they using some sort of bunshin technique?" Naruto whispered to Twilight.

She shook her head. "No, they wear special armor that makes them all appear identical to each other."

The blonde nodded, but he was still puzzled about something. "They don't seem very ninja-ish with that armor."

Twilight snorted in amusement. "They're more like samurai, Naruto."

"Ah."

00000

"FASTER!"

"Naruto!" Twilight admonished. "Please calm down! You're annoying the soldiers!"

"How can you tell!?" the child hollered back. He was attached to the bottom of the skywagon with the chakra he expelled from his feet.

The unicorn brought a hoof to her face. She had been escorted by the soldiers of the Royal Guard on many occasions and had learned the subtle tells as to their moods.

"WHEEEE!" giggled Pinkie as she held onto the hubcap of one of the wheels, allowing the motion of the skywagon to spin her.

Spike chuckled beside Twilight. "I think this is Pinkie's first skywagon ride too."

"Nope," Pinkie replied. "I just don't get to ride them often!"

Spike and Twilight turned to see her walking backwards on top of the wheel completely opposite from the one she was on before.

"How... ?"

"Did she just... ?"

Before they could complete their thought processes, one of the pegasi looked back and began speaking, distracting the unicorn and dragon.

"If all passengers would please be seated we will come in for a landing in Canterlot Castle."

He quickly turned back to his job. When Twilight and Spike looked around again, Pinkie was already in her seat and Naruto was climbing back into the passenger area.

00000

As the skywagon came to a gentle vertical landing, Naruto murmured something about an awesome idea for a prank.

Pinkie immediately said "I'll help!" to him when she heard what he had said.

The four pegasi guards unhitched themselves from the skywagon, causing it to sag in place, as if gravity had just remembered it existed. While Twilight, Spike, and Pinkie thought nothing of the phenomena, Naruto's mind focused on it.

Back home, even when going through the Ninja Academy, Naruto was seen as ignorant or stupid when it came to just about everything. For one, the blonde couldn't care less about the minutia of the history of the Elemental Nations because the names and dates ran together in his head and he had difficulty keeping them straight. It wasn't like they had pictures of these supposedly important historical figures. Additionally, to get attention, Naruto had to be willfully ignorant and a troublemaker.

The main problem was that the villagers didn't realize, or care, that Naruto was actually slightly dyslexic and his problems with reading could be dealt with by practicing. He was also a visual and kinesthetic learner, meaning that as long as he had pictures or visual aids, or he was being taught something by doing it, his memory would retain it a whole lot better than any lecture or text could teach him.

Additionally, Naruto had to be observant of certain odd details in order to pull off the pranks he was famous for or to be able to judge the moods of the various people around him.

He noticed that the skywagon became a lot heavier when the last of the pegasi guards ceased touching it. He wasn't sure why he had even noticed the strange occurrence, but he knew that the effect could potentially be powerful. Even duplicated if he could figure out how.

He shelved the information in the back of his mind and allowed the pegasi to escort them to the receiving room.

The doors on that side of the castle's keep were massive and ornate, covered with a mural depicting the sun on the left and the moon on the right. On either side of the doors were two unicorn guards, each a dark grey. They too wore golden armor.

The guards' horns glowed, making two differently-colored auras that enveloped the handles of the massive doors, turned them, and opened the doors.

Inside was a white unicorn wearing a more ornate set of armor than the rest of the guards. His stern face instantly brightened when he saw Twilight Sparkle.

"Twily!" he exclaimed, removing his helmet with his forehooves to reveal his blue eyes and indigo mane (with blue streaks).

"Shining!" she replied, rushing forward to hug the other unicorn. "Wow, you actually made Captain! When were you going to tell me?" She pushed away from him and glared at the taller stallion.

"Sorry Sis," he began. "I've been really busy with reorganizing the entire guard, which was necessary now that Princess Luna has returned. I meant to send you a letter though!"

He turned to see the remainder of the guests and focused immediately on the dragon. "Hey Spike! How you doin', buddy?"

"Alright," the dragon replied. "Twilight keeps me busy every time she finds something new to research."

"She's still having you reshelf books, huh?" The stallion chuckled, turning to his sister. "So, when are you going to introduce me to your friends?"

"Right," Twilight responded. "The pink one is Pinkie Pie, she's one of my best friends."

"Hi!" She waved. Suddenly, her hoof went behind her back and returned with a pristine cupcake with a lit candle in the middle of it. "Have a cupcake!"

Spike was the first one to speak after that weird occurrence. "Where did that come from?"

"Sugarcube Corner!"

Naruto chuckled.

Ignoring the pink mare's disregard for physics, Twilight then pointed a hoof at the blonde human. "That is Uzumaki Naruto - I just met him today. He wants to become the Pony Summoner. Guys? This is Captain Shining Armor, my older brother."

"Neat!" Pinkie exclaimed, smiling behind her veil.

Naruto, on the other hand, saluted Shining by brining two fingers to his eyebrow. After a second's hesitation, Shining saluted back.

This event would have startled most who knew Naruto personally, because it was known that the child did not respect authority just because they were authority. Rather, he was familiar and friendly with the few authority figures in his life that he came to respect, but he followed no formal protocol.

Still, Naruto wished to make a good impression on these ponies, so he saluted Shining Armor because he was a fellow soldier.

Ending the salute, Shining spoke to the human. "Tell me something about yourself, Naruto."

"I plan on being the Hokage, which is the strongest ninja in Konoha, in order to protect the ones I care for from those that would do them harm."

Shining snorted. "Impressive, but I meant something more casual. Something that has nothing to do with your career."

Naruto didn't even need two seconds to think of something. "I love ramen."

Twilight grimaced as Shining whooped in joy.

"Me too!" declared the guard captain. "I'm sure we'll get along just fine!"

00000

Twilight, Spike, Pinkie, and Naruto did not have long to wait until Shining Armor told them they could enter the throne room. The large stained-glass windows depicted scenes of battles long ago against various creatures including some that Naruto didn't know the names for. There were tall marble columns to support the ceiling from which dangled magnificent chandeliers. Instead of candles, special crystals that glowed with an ethereal light were mounted on the walls and chandeliers.

Two thrones, side by side, sat on a raised dais at the end of the room. One was pure white with golden accents and red velvet cushions, whereas its twin was the darkest black, with silver accents and pale blue cushions. Upon the first throne resided a large pony, at least twice the size of any pony Naruto had seen yet. She was white as snow, but had a prismatic mane and tail each of soft pastels which fluttered in an unfelt breeze. Around her horn she wore a tiara of gold. She wore golden slippers on her hooves. She also had massive wings like a pegasus and the mark on her flank was that of the brilliant sun.

From what Naruto had gathered, this mare was Princess Celestia, Monarch Primary of the Ponies. Her race was a special one called an "alicorn".

Seated on the black throne was a smaller, drowsy-looking alicorn of the deepest, darkest midnight blue. She wore a silver tiara and silver slippers. Her mane and tail looked like twin fields of stars that constantly shifted. On her flank was a dark patch with a crescent moon in its center. At her hooves was a huge scroll.

To Celestia's right was one of the pegasus guards. To Luna's left was a fifth kind of pony - this one had slitted eyes, much like Spike's, extremely pointy ears, and bat wings. The "batpony" was a dark ash grey with a dark blue mane.

The four guests, escorted by Shining Armor, approached the twin thrones on the plush red carpet. When Twilight and Spike bowed, Pinkie was quick to follow. Naruto, remembering only a little of etiquette training, bowed at the waist. Not knowing how far he was supposed to bow, he settled for bowing at a ninety-degree angle, using chakra to root himself to the floor so he didn't topple forward.

Naruto heard a gasp, but he also heard Shining clear his throat. Naruto took that as his cue to stop bowing. When he straightened, he found himself eye-to-eye with the Sun Princess. He was almost afraid to breathe as she inspected his face and hair. With a nod, the sudden violation of Naruto's personal space was over and Celestia returned to her throne. Figuring it was a personality quirk of the Princess, Naruto put it out of his mind.

Princess Luna opened her mouth to speak. Immediately, the batpony to her left covered his ears with his wings.

**"WELCOME, TWILIGHT SPARKLE. WELCOME, PINKIE PIE. WELCOME, SPIKE THE DRAGON. WELCOME, HUMAN CHILD. WE HATH BEEN EXPECTING THEE!"**

Pinkie and Twilight were rubbing their ears while Spike had fallen backwards from the force of the Princess's shout. Naruto simply swallowed to fix the pressure in his ears; his Academy instructor, Umino Iruka tended to shout at about that volume, so Naruto was inured to it. The blonde spared a side-glance to Shining Armor and found that the stallion's entire head was encased in an energy aura, probably to block out the sound.

"I'm surprised none of their ears are bleeding," joked Celestia.

**"WHY DOST THOU JOKE, DEAR SISTER? AND WHY ARE THOU NOT SPEAKING WITH THE ROYAL CANTERLOT VOICE?"**

Celestia blinked at her younger sister for a moment before voicing her reply. "I haven't told you, have I? The use of the Royal Canterlot Voice has been out of practice for nearly nine-hundred years."

**"AND THOU WAS GOING TO INFORM US OF THIS... WHEN?"**

"Quieter, Your Majesty," requested the batpony.

**"How about now?"**

"A little lower," the guard suggested as he folded his wings up against his sides.

"And now?"

"Perfect, Your Majesty."

Naruto noticed that Shining's technique to dampen sound was still running so he poked the stallion in the ribs as surreptitiously as possible. The bubble of energy enveloping his head disappeared quickly.

"Human Child, come forth, if thou wouldst."

Naruto stepped forward, making certain to stand equidistant from each throne.

"Thou wishes to sign the Pony Contract, yes?"

"I do," the blonde replied as seriously as possible.

"Unfortunately," Celestia began. "It is not as simple as asking to be allowed to sign it."

"Indeed," Luna agreed. "Though we dost not have a summoner, it dost not mean we will lowerest our standards."

"A trial of valor will be issued to you, Naruto," the older alicorn continued. "Please step back, as it coincides with the assignment I have for Twilight and her friends."

Naruto nodded as stiffly as he could manage before returning to stand next to Pinkie.

"Twilight Sparkle," Celestia said. "A large dragon has taken roost at the heights of Whistling Peak. Normally, I would allow it to slumber there uninterrupted, but this particular dragon snores. As you have experienced with Spike, when a dragon snores, they exhale smoke. This dragon's smoke is so thick and voluminous that it could cover much of Equestria in a dark haze if left unchecked. You are to take the other five Bearers of the Elements and persuade him to leave. If he refuses, you are authorized to resort to other methods. Take Naruto with you. The Night Guard to Luna's left will accompany you to observe his behavior."

She then turned her head so that Naruto knew she was talking directly to him. "You are to help them remove the dragon. If it comes to the worst possible outcome, you are to help Twilight and her friends escape."

Naruto swallowed. "Yes, Ma'am."

00000

End Chapter One.

Next Chapter: the other Four Elements, and a dragon.

Author's Notes

Crap. I know I promised that the next chapter I'd finish would be for "The Laughing Fox", but this particular plot bunny would not leave me alone.

Kusari-Gama is an interesting OC toad, actually. The weapon he uses is also called a kusari-gama. Considering that Japanese humor is huge on puns, and "gama" can also mean toad, the choice was obvious. Anyone may use him in their fanfic.

Many thanks to Dumbledork who edited this not once, but TWICE for me. Dumbles, you are a gentleman and a scholar and an excellent beta reader. Don't ever change (but if you do absolutely _have_ to change, you should become Dorkswirl the Bearded).

Those who are bronies will note that I have adapted Equestria to fit within the Summon Realm of Naruto fannon. I have obviously adapted the ponies to be ninja or samurai. Those who are Narutards are probably going to tell me how much I suck in reviews on  
I will preemptively tell you all that I'm only going to listen to _constructive_ criticism and that your flames will be sent to the moon.

Just gonna say one thing: while this and "Brothers" are posted on both FanFiction and FiMFiction, my next brony story (and there is one coming) will be a FiMFiction exclusive.

Oh yes, one term that some people who read this story may not be familiar with: bunshin is the Japanese word for "clone". In ninja terms, a bunshin is a copy generated to confuse enemies, but some types of bunshin can also perform attacks.

**02-27-2013**: Minor dialogue edits. Hopefully Naruto is more "in-character".


	2. Can Mountains Whistle?

**Your Summon is Pink**

by 5007 (aka Lord Dragon Claw)

Disclaimer: Those who are both bronies and Narutards should be called bronutardies! ... maybe.

Chapter Two: Can Mountains Whistle?

00000

Shining Armor led them out of the castle, the dark-gray bat-pony following close behind. Out of curiosity, Naruto turned to ask him a few questions.

"So, what's your name?"

The Night Guard, who had green eyes, didn't answer for a moment. "The name I had before I became an opliptera was Figgaro Puddun. My family is in the confection business. I have been assigned the number 'Seven', though Princess Luna insists on calling me 'Figgy'."

Pinkie snorted in amusement.

"Opliptera?" Naruto repeated.

Seven nodded. "Becoming an opliptera is to receive the Blessing of Night. Only earth ponies can receive the Blessing."

"Indeed," added Shining. "As you have probably noticed, not a single earth pony is in the ranks of the actual visible Guard, nor are they among the Knights. Everypony you see is either a unicorn or a pegasus. Earth ponies may join the Royal Ninja Corps if they wish to serve the crown directly."

"And since the return of Princess Luna," the opliptera continued, "The earth ponies who have joined the RNC may receive the Blessing and become Night Guards. We are different from the Day Guards in that we are initially trained as ninja instead of knights."

"What should _I_ call you then?" Naruto asked, not really caring for the complicated politics of his summons; he did understand that it was important to know, but it annoyed him greatly.

"'Seven' when on missions. You may call me 'Figgaro' when we have downtime."

"... but never 'late for dinner', right?"

The stallion gave him a strange look.

"Spike," Twilight began, a few feet ahead of the stallions and the boy, "I'm sure Fluttershy will be worried about her animal friends as we make our way to Whistling Peak."

"Do you want me to look after them?" inquired the drakeling. "I can do that."

"Twilight, can mountains whistle?" asked Pinkie.

"Uh, what?"

Naruto chuckled lightly as Shining and Seven cocked their heads.

"Why would the mountain be called Whistling Peak if it didn't whistle?" Pinkie explained.

"Pinkie," Naruto began, causing the mare to turn her head towards him, "I believe it is called that because the wind makes a whistling sound near the top of the mountain."

"Ohhh."

00000

As they approached the courtyard where another team of pegasi in Guard armor were being hitched to a skywagon, a very large pegasus in silver-trimmed armor began walking towards the group. Shining increased his pace, putting him at the front of the pack and meeting the dark brown pegasus halfway. The unicorn stallion saluted the flame-haired pegasus mare as she returned the salute.

"Captain Shining Armor," she greeted, her voice a bit gruff.

"Captain Meteor Strike," he responded. "I take it that these are the soldiers that are going to escort my sister and her friends safely to Ponyville?"

"Indeed," she confirmed. She then turned her golden eyes to Naruto. "So this is the boy who may yet summon us?"

"Yes Ma'am," Naruto said as he saluted, two fingers to his brow.

She laughed. "No need for a salute, child. I don't really have authority over you."

Naruto smiled. "It still isn't very often that I meet a superior officer that I like."

Her throat roared in mirth. "A charmer with a forked tongue as well!"

She stepped forwards and mussed his hair with a wing tip. "I do hope you pass this test - I hope to work with you."

She was suddenly gone in a gust of air as she rocketed into the sky.

It was a moment before anyone said anything to break the stunned silence that followed.

"I bet she's great at Pegahoops," Pinkie commented.

00000

The ride back to Ponyville was rather uneventful aside from Twilight dictating four different notes addressed to mares known as Fluttershy, Applejack, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash, in that order. Spike breathed green flames on each note and they disappeared, their smoke trails speeding off ahead of the charging pegasus Guards.

When they landed, four mares, two of which were armored, were waiting outside the library tree. A white rabbit stood atop the head of a yellow pegasus, a belt of kunai strapped to its back.

Twilight stepped out of the skywagon first, followed by Pinkie, Spike, and Naruto as Seven alighted on top of the mailbox outside the library.

"Okay girls, listen up!" Twilight said with authority.

The aforementioned yellow pegasus seemed to cringe slightly while hiding her face behind her long, pink mane. The rabbit on her head saluted though. Her mane did not hide the fact that she wore a necklace similar to Pinkie's, but with a collection of gems shaped into a butterfly motif instead of a balloon. Her forest-green bodysuit had a plethora of pockets stuffed with various small scrolls and other supplies.

Next to her, an orange earth pony mare tilted her Stetson hat back slightly, revealing a long, blonde mane with a jade ring at the end to cinch it together. Her tail was similarly adorned. She wore brown armor plating over a tan bodysuit. Around her throat was another necklace, this time an apple-shaped gem in its center.

Saluting next to her was another pegasus mare with a cyan coat. Her mane and tail were each seven different colors making a rainbow pattern. She wore a set of armor that seemed to have been fashioned out of the scales of some large lizard, possibly a dragon. Her armor appeared to be patterned after the Royal Guard but with several differences: it appeared to be made of significantly less material to allow for freedom of movement and did not have a chain/mesh bodysuit. Instead, the armor was merely strapped on with strips of leather. Painted on the sides of her armor was a rainbow-colored lightning bolt coming from a cloud which matched the gemstone resting on her throat.

The final mare was a white unicorn with a purple, coifed mane and a similarly coifed tail. She wore a simple red kimono with a purple floral pattern print. Strapped to her back were what appeared to be several large scrolls. Like Pinkie, her face was covered in a veil but this one was sheer, allowing Naruto to see her muzzle. Within the center of her necklace was a simple blue gemstone cut into a rhombus-shape. She was calmly paying attention to Twilight.

"Like I said in the notes I sent you, the Princesses have a special mission for us. To ensure we are successful, this human boy is to come with us."

Said human nodded.

"I'm Uzumaki Naruto, the future Hokage!" he boasted getting a mixed reaction from the four mares.

"The Night Guard, Seven, will be accompanying us as well to evaluate Naruto's behavior. Assuming that his performance is satisfactory, the Princesses will allow him to be the first human to sign the Contract."

The girls made a collective gasp before allowing Twilight to continue.

"I assume you have noticed the dark cloud forming around Whistling Peak to the west?"

While the yellow pegasus nodded, meek as can be, the other three took a quick glance to see the black shape obscuring the top of the mountain.

"What is it?" asked the rainbow pegasus.

"It's smoke."

"Oh horseapples," muttered the orange pony.

"But it's not from a fire," continued the purple unicorn, eliciting a sigh of relief from the other ponies. "It's from a dragon."

While the cyan mare grinned and flared her wings, the yellow one squeaked and shuddered. The white mare looked contemplative whereas the orange one facehoofed.

"It's our job to remove the dragon by diplomatic means if possible or by force if necessary. We move out in ten minutes."

With that, Twilight and Spike headed inside the library, the purple mare using her telekinesis to open the door.

The cyan mare snorted. "Ten minutes isn't enough time for us all to introduce ourselves to Naruto here."

"You can still try!" replied Pinkie, bouncing in place.

The mare with the multicolored mane shook her head and stepped forward.

"Name's Rainbow Dash."

"Nice to meet you. What kind of armor is that?"

"Dragonhide," Dash responded. "Isn't it awesome? It belonged to my father."

"Are you sure the dragon on the mountain isn't going to be pissed about your armor?"

"Kid, I'm going to be there to help fight if necessary. I'm not a diplomat - that what Twilight's for."

As she stepped back, the orange mare came forward.

"Nice ta meet ya, sugarcube," she said, somehow grasping Naruto's hand with her hoof. "Name's Applejack. Ah run the local apple farm an' the local militia."

"Nice to meet you too," replied the blonde. "What's your armor made of?"

"A special ceramic compound that absorbs magic."

"Magic?"

"Right. Ya humans call it 'chakra'. In fact, most o' the otha' summons call it that too."

The white mare was the next to step forward.

"My name is Rarity," she said, holding out her hoof to the boy.

"Nice to meet you," he said in response, shaking the hoof.

She sighed. "Looks like I'm going to have to teach you some manners, Naruto-san. Especially if you wish to become a leader in your own country."

"Huh?"

Rarity smiled. "When a lady presents her hoof or hand, you are supposed to carefully grasp it and kiss the top of it."

"Oh," Naruto said, looking dejected.

"Not to worry dear," she giggled, "we can work on etiquette later, assuming you pass Celestia's and Luna's test."

She stepped back and tried to usher the yellow mare forward. She squeaked and shook her head, but the white rabbit sitting on the crown of her head rolled his eyes and hopped off towards Naruto. He put his arms out and deftly caught it. The rabbit glared right into Naruto's cerulean orbs; Naruto glared right back. After a moment, the rabbit smirked and waved towards the yellow mare.

"O-okay Angel," she stammered at a barely audible volume. She stepped forwards, cowering slightly. "Um, I'm ..." She trailed off, giving Naruto no chance to hear her name clearly.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I didn't catch that."

She squeaked in fear. Naruto smiled, finding the behavior adorable. He quickly thought back to when Twilight was sending missives to other ponies, which he presumed to have been these four mares.

"You're Fluttershy, right?"

Hiding her face behind her mane, she nodded.

"What can you do?"

"Um, I'm a m-medic," she whispered.

"And what about the rabbit here?" he asked, looking at the smirking lagomorph.

"He's a demon in taijutsu, that one," Applejack piped up. "Ah've never seen a familiar defend their owner with such ferocity."

At that point, the library door opened again, Twilight stepping out. She was levitating a sheet of parchment. Angel hopped out of Naruto's arms and back onto Fluttershy's head.

"I'm sorry everypony, for taking so long," she said. "We couldn't find the map to Whistling Peak because it wasn't where it was supposed to go."

"Yes it was," grumbled Spike.

She hovered the map in front of her as she looked towards the mountain, muttering every so often.

Fluttershy edged her way over to Twilight and whispered something to her. Naruto didn't catch the conversation as Seven trotted over.

"So you have met the Elements of Harmony," the opliptera began. "Rather, you met the Bearers of the Elements. They are national heroes."

"Oh? How so?"

"They freed Princess Luna from the curse of Nightmare Moon. Because they liberated her from that madness, she was able to return to her sister's side and allowed her to be able to grant the Blessing of Night again. Without these six mares, I'd still be stuck in the RNC and would never be able to join the Guard."

"Why not? Why aren't earth ponies allowed to join the Royal Guard?"

"It has to do with the abilities of each race-" Seven gestured with a hoof towards Twilight. "-unicorns can project magic and cast it outside their bodies. And pegasi-" He then pointed at Rainbow Dash. "-can manipulate the weather with their magic. But earth ponies must use their chakra internally for the most part. Becoming opliptera grants us additional abilities and allows us to guard the Princesses from all threats, not just the outright physical ones."

"What!?" exclaimed Twilight, grabbing Naruto's and Seven's attention. "Fluttershy, we _need_ you to come. You have valuable experience that pertains to diplomatic relations with dragons. Besides, what if we need to use the Elements?"

As Twilight turned back to her map, Fluttershy squeaked and stammered before she gave up.

"Also," the unicorn added, "Spike is going to look after your animal friends in the meadow."

"Just leave it to me!" the dragon chirped, a couple of birds perched on his green head frills, with a squirrel curled up in one claw and a snake wrapped around the other.

For some unknown reason, the various animals near Spike suddenly fled in different directions. Grunting in annoyance, the purple drakeling chased after the snake first, to ensure it didn't eat any of the other animals.

Without having paid any attention to her dragon assistant, Twilight Sparkle rolled up her map and placed it within her saddlebag before speaking. "See? Spike's got the situation in hoof. I mean claw."

"But he doesn't seem up to..." Fluttershy murmured before closing her eyes and hiding her face further behind her mane. "I mean..." She then squeaked.

"Okay!" Twilight snapped, reminding Naruto of a Chuunin giving out orders. "Squad, let's move out!"

The lavender unicorn sped down the road out of town, setting a strenuous pace that none of the other mares had difficulty keeping up with. Seven took to the air while Naruto had to run to match the speed the ponies displayed. Still, thanks to the demonic aberration sealed within the blonde, he was able to run alongside the mares the entire distance to the base of Whistling Peak.

00000

Naruto had to lean back a good distance, sticking to the ground with an application of chakra, just to see the top of Whistling Peak. It was an immense mountain with an almost sheer rock face. Naruto took a closer look at the stone to find many porous holes peppering most of the mountain. If he remembered correctly, such stone was called "igneous" and was the result of volcanic activity, meaning that Whistling Peak may have been a volcano in the distant past and was now extinct. Or that it was merely sleeping. Considering that it was less than a day's run from Ponyville, Naruto hoped it was the former.

The mares wasted no time walking up the nigh-vertical cliff to reach the first plateau. Rainbow Dash hovered above the group, Seven keeping pace with her. Naruto was surprised to see that only Twilight and Pinkie were actually using chakra to stick to the rough stone. He was about to ask why Applejack and Rarity weren't using their chakra when Twilight noticed that they had left Fluttershy behind.

Naruto turned around to see Angel giving a bush at the base of the rock wall a glare.

"Come on, Fluttershy!" the lavender mare coaxed. "We need the medic to keep up!"

The yellow mare poked her head out of the bush and muttered something about the mountain being too high.

Naruto scratched the back of his head. _Isn't she a pegasus? Doesn't she like flying?_

"It _is_ a mountain!" shouted Rainbow Dash. "You could just fly up it, you know!"

The medic poked her hoof at the ground for a couple of seconds before extending her wings and flapping them, gaining altitude. However, when she was about three meters off of the ground, the echo of the slumbering dragon's snore reached them. Fluttershy's pupils shrank in size as her wings suddenly folded against the sides of her body. She fell right into the bush she had been hiding in earlier.

Angel brought a forepaw to his forehead with a resounding "thwack". The mare crawled out of the shrub and tried to pry her wings from the sides of her body, to no avail.

Naruto rolled his eyes and began hopping his way back down the mountain. By the time he got to the bottom, another draconic snore reached their range of hearing and the yellow mare flipped over onto her back, trembling in fear. Naruto shrugged, figuring that she might be afraid of dragons.

"Naruto," called Twilight, "What are you doing?"

"I'm going to carry Fluttershy up the mountain!" Naruto called back as he began gathering his chakra.

"No offense, sugarcube, but Ah don't think ya got enuff muscle-power ta pull that one off," called Applejack.

Naruto rolled his eyes as he put his index and middle fingers of both hands into a cross formation. By putting forth a massive amount of chakra, Naruto began his signature jutsu. The remaining chakra in his body was split evenly into seven portions, one of which he kept himself.

"Kagebunshin no jutsu!" yelled the blonde as an explosion of smoke surrounded him.

The chakra smoke quickly cleared to reveal seven Narutos. One of them barked commands for the rest of them to carry the yellow mare up the mountain. That particular blonde human turned to see Angel rubbing his chin in thought.

"Coming, Angel?"

The rabbit nodded and leapt into Naruto's arms. The thirteen-year-old ninja began walking up the side of the cliff, while his clones, carrying the catatonic mare, followed behind.

_My life has gotten surreal,_ he thought.

"What kind of spell is that!?" exclaimed the lavender mare when Naruto caught up with her.

"It's a ninjutsu," he replied. "One that I'm really good at!"

"I can tell they're solid," murmured Twilight. "I can create illusionary copies, but none that are actually physically there! What are they composed of?"

"From what I remember from the description on the scroll, they are made of shadows and chakra given solid form. There was some sort of technical babble about memory that went along with it, but I didn't understand it."

"Hmmm," Twilight hummed, obviously in thought.

00000

After fifteen minutes, Fluttershy regained consciousness and the clones put her down. She was confused to see seven blonde humans, all identical to one another.

"Boss," one of the clones said. "She's awake!"

Naruto nodded and dispelled the clones. His head began to throb for a short moment.

He suddenly had six sets of memories of carrying the yellow mare. One of the sets of memories was of being frustrated by the mare's pink hair and how it kept getting in his face.

_Weirdest experience ever,_ he thought to himself. He turned his head to see Twilight's expectant look. "What?"

"Your left eyebrow twitched and you had a slight grimace," she replied. "It only happened once your bunshin evaporated into smoke. Have you never had them running for longer than a few minutes?"

While still cradling Angel with his left hand, Naruto rubbed his chin with his right. "Come to think of it, no. I haven't."

"Do you suddenly remember carrying Fluttershy?"

"Actually, yes."

Twilight grinned. "I have an idea I'd like to try once we return to Ponyville."

It was only a few minutes later that they came upon a gap in the pathway. They were on a smaller part of Whistling Peak and would have to walk on open air to get onto the mountain proper. Seven and Rainbow simply hovered across whereas Rarity, Applejack, and Pinkie jumped the distance. Following them were Twilight and Naruto, who both easily made the leap. Fluttershy peeked over the ledge and crouched down, shuddering.

Rainbow dragged a hoof across her face and groaned. "Sometimes that mare gets on my nerves."

Twilight, ignoring the comments that the dragonhide-wearing mare was making, called out to Fluttershy. "What's wrong?"

"I-it's too high!" she whimpered.

"You can do it!" Pinkie cheered. "It's just a hop, skip, and a jump!"

"We don't have time for this," murmured Rainbow as Pinkie began singing, easily leaping back and forth over the gap.

"Come on and move your little rump,

"It's just a hop, skip, and a jump!"

Fluttershy smiled slightly and tried to follow Pinkie's example. "A hop, skip-"

"Just don't look down!" Twilight blurted out, immediately covering her mouth with a hoof.

Unfortunately, as psychology dictates, Fluttershy did the one thing she was told not to do. She looked down and panicked.

Luckily, the gap wasn't actually that wide as she reached the far end with her front hooves. Her rear hooves were still firmly planted on the side she started from, but her form was shivering in terror.

"She's a pegasus who's _afraid of heights_," commented Naruto, eliciting a chuckle from Seven. "Now I've seen everything."

Angel leapt from Naruto's arms and kicked off of his nose, landing on Seven's head. Before the stallion could react, the rabbit began stomping on his nose. "Owowowowowowowowowowowow!"

Angel quickly jumped onto Pinkie's back and stuck his tongue out at the human and opliptera as the gray stallion rubbed his nose.

Naruto shook his head and created a pair of shadow clones on the other side to push Fluttershy across the gap safely. Rarity helped by using a bolt of cloth to pull the frightened mare.

"'Sokay, Fluttershy," Applejack coaxed. "Yer on solid ground now."

00000

After a few minutes of walking, Twilight warned the rest of the party of impending danger. "My map says that this next stretch is an avalanche zone, so we need to be quiet."

"Ava- ava-" stuttered Fluttershy only to be shushed by Rainbow and Rarity.

Naruto, seeing a potential problem with how jumpy the medic pony was, began building his chakra and held onto it for immediate use.

There were several minutes of pregnant silence as the group snuck down the path, but Naruto noticed a little too late when Rainbow accidentally brushed the branch of a tree. A few leaves began to gently glide down and one of them landed on Fluttershy's tail. As the mare freaked out, screaming "AVALANCHE!" (before getting cut off by Applejack's armored hoof being stuck in her mouth), Naruto quickly spawned about a hundred shadow clones who raced up the side of the cliff in an effort to intercept any large rocks or boulders that may have begun to roll down the mountain.

As the ground began to rumble, the party began to run. The larger boulders that Naruto's clones couldn't redirect were smashed to dust by Seven. The opliptera was wreathed in a dark aura as he punched the stones, reducing each to rubble. The smaller rocks then burst apart as residual energy from Seven's aura shattered them.

Applejack made use of her powerful legs and kicked away many of the stones while Fluttershy hid near her. Pinkie slashed at the ones she couldn't dodge with a gigantic baker's peel, bisecting them. One of Naruto's clones noticed that the utensil was vibrating for some reason before he was dispelled by an unlucky rock to the head.

Naruto made good use of the kawarimi no jutsu (Body Replacement Technique), switching himself with stones that were about his weight to avoid being hit by any boulders he or his clones couldn't knock away.

Rarity used the scrolls on her back to create an elastic awning above her head, causing most of the rubble above her to bounce away. Twilight shared this shelter with her and used her magic to blast any boulders too big and heavy for Rarity's cloth shield to deal with.

Rainbow simply dodged everything the mountain tried to drop on her while keeping an eye out for any rocks that might blind-side her companions. She redirected a few that wouldn't have been stopped by the others.

As the dust cleared, the group discovered that the path ahead had been turned into a mess of dirt and rubble which would seriously impede any progress forward. Similarly, the path behind them had rubble strewn all about it and would hinder their ability to retreat.

Naruto coughed out "Nobody's stone-cold, are they?" earning him a couple of glares for the pun.

Seven shook his head and landed next to Naruto. "I do not like the looks of this. This rubble could seriously hinder our retreat if we needed to get the mares out of here."

Naruto nodded as his remaining clones tried to shift some of the rubble off of the path to clear it, but much of the earth had settled and was difficult to move.

"I do think we still need to at least try to get that dragon off of the mountain," he replied. "None of us are injured and it would be shameful to just give up when we're almost to the top."

Seven wore an unreadable expression, not showing approval for the plan, but also lacking any reservations about going through with it. Naruto realized that this was simply part of his test: whether he would play it safe and retreat or if he would press on and get the job done.

Inwardly, Naruto sighed. _Just like the Chuunin Exams - this test is obviously a mind-game._ He hoped he was making the right decision by pressing forward, similarly to how he had pressed on in the Chuunin Exams so far.

Applejack then caught Naruto's attention as the armored mare began gathering chakra. While the boy had piss-poor sensing ability, even he could feel the chakra she was putting out. She charged at the pile of boulders in front of them and cried out in exertion.

"Doton: Taiseki Ishibiya!" (Earth Release: Boulder Cannon)

She swung around on her forehooves, using her momentum to kick the nearest large stone with her rear legs. It rocketed into the pile of rubble, blasting most of the boulders off of the path and into the valley below.

Pinkie bounced over to Applejack. "Where'd you learn a move like that, A.J.?"

"Muh Pa taught it ta me b'fore he and Ma died," she replied.

Pinkie's ears drooped as she realized that she must have brought up painful memories for Applejack, but the farmpony was having none of that.

"Now don't ya git all sad on me now!" she chastised, her tone playful.

"Why would your father know such a jutsu?" Twilight asked, her curiosity overriding any reservations she might have had about another pony's deceased parents.

"He either 'vented it or lurned it so he could git rid of rocks dat got in da way of da plow," she replied, closing her eyes. A blissful smile staked claim on her face shortly after.

"Applejack," Naruto began, an idea forming in his head. "I don't like the idea that our path down the mountain is blocked when we have a potential enemy is in front of us. Do you think you have enough chakra to perform that feat again?"

"Ya'll want an escape route?" she snapped. "Us Apples don't never run from a fight!"

Fluttershy squeaked and hid behind Seven. The opliptera simply watched with a stoic expression.

"It's not running away!" Naruto shouted back. "It's a tactical withdrawal! I'd rather complete the mission at a future time than lose any teammates and fail the mission!"

Applejack stomped up to Naruto and glared into his eyes. Naruto glared right back at her, neither of them flinching in the slightest.

Naruto could hear some muttering between Rainbow, Rarity, and Twilight.

"Ten bits on A.J."

"A lady never gambles, Darling."

"How 'bout you, Twilight?"

"No thanks."

"Spoilsport..."

After several tense moments, the orange mare opened her mouth.

"So yer gunna give up iffin things get too hairy up dere?"

"No, we'll just come back again later with greater numbers."

Applejack slowly smirked at this. Without a word, she side-stepped the human and charged at the rubble blocking their path back down.

00000

Near the top of Whistling Peak, the group of seven ponies (plus one human) finally reached a small plateau. As they cleared the final ledge, they could see the gaping maw of a cave, black smoke billowing out of its depths.

"Alright," Twilight began. "Here's the plan: Rainbow, your job is to hide in the smoke above and strike should the dragon wish to fight. Pinkie and Rarity are to provide a distraction-"

The purple unicorn trailed off as the fuchsia mare pulled a pair of rubber chickens out from nowhere, tied by their necks with a braided cord. Rarity merely shrugged at Pinkie's act and gestured for Twilight to continue.

"- while Applejack and Seven go for the eyes. But hopefully it won't come to that." She turned to the yellow pegasus, eliciting a squeak from Fluttershy. "Fluttershy, Naruto, and I will do what we need to do to wake the dragon and persuade him to leave. Everypony ready?"

After getting affirmative answers from most of the group, Twilight trotted into the mouth of the cavern, Naruto close behind.

"Fluttershy, you're the animal expert. What _is_ the best way to wake a sleeping dragon?"

"Uh," replied Naruto. "She stayed outside, actually."

"What!?" she scoffed. "We don't have time for this!"

She quickly cantered back to find that Fluttershy had stuck her head in a hole in the dirt. Using her telekinesis, she yanked on the pegasus' tail.

Naruto stood just inside the mouth of the cave and watched the mares argue over whether Fluttershy should go into the cave to face the dragon or not. Seven soon joined him.

"Do you have a plan?" the dark gray pony asked.

"I'm going to have shadow clones holding a kawarimi to be able to get the girls out of the line of fire if necessary."

The opliptera nodded.

After ten minutes, Fluttershy walked away from the cave, Angel close behind. Shrugging, Naruto created thirteen shadow clones and sent two to follow the pegasus and her rabbit.

Twilight sighed before she entered the cavern's mouth, one of the Narutos following close behind.

The various Narutos shook their heads when the lavender mare tried to look at things optimistically.

"He probably doesn't even know what he's doing, right?"

The other four mares, hiding outside, voiced their agreement. The Naruto following Twilight looked up to see Seven crawling along the roof of the cave, weaving silently through the stalagmites.

They found the dragon not far from the entrance, snoring atop a pile of gems and gold large enough to gild the entire Hokage Monument back in Konoha. The wyrm himself was a massive red beast with a long beak of a mouth filled with hundreds of razor-sharp teeth. His dark green spines led from the back of his head all the way to the tip of his tail. Clutched in his massive talons were piles of various gems and other riches and treasures.

"Excuse me," Twilight said loud enough to not quite count as shouting. The dragon's eyes snapped open, slitted irises focusing immediately on the source of the noise. The yellow eyes revealed a great deal of intelligence and a touch of irritation at being woken.

"My name is Twilight Sparkle," she continued. "And the human is Naruto. My friends and I are citizens of Equestria-"

Before she could continue, the wyrm snorted out a cloud of smoke, choking the mare and Naruto's clone. But she pressed on.

"-Ponyville, to be exact. Normally, we'd just let a dragon sleep wherever he or she wanted, but your snoring is producing a great deal of smoke. Equestria can't survive the next one hundred years in a dark haze."

She stepped closer to the muzzle of the dragon, causing him to lift his head to reveal a set of tan-yellow underscales running down his throat and over his stomach.

"You understand, don't you?" she pleaded.

The dragon sat on his haunches and stretched, scratching his sides.

"So you'll leave?"

As a retort, the wyrm merely collapsed back onto his hoard before blowing a great cloud of smoke at Twilight and Naruto, driving them out of the cave, hacking and coughing.

00000

Trying again, Rarity and a Naruto clone entered the cavern to try and get the dragon to leave.

"So sorry to in-ter-ru-upt!" sang the white mare.

Confused, the wyrm opened his eyes.

"I apologize, but I just couldn't leave without mentioning how handsome you are."

Blinking, the dragon smiled.

"It's obvious that you take such good care of your scales. And your spines? Simply gorgeous!"

At the mention of the spines, they raised up straighter than they were before.

"Too bad they have to be hidden away in this silly, dark cave."

The wyrm grumbled a bit in agreement.

"In my opinion, you should be _out there_, showing them off!"

Grinning, he sat up on his haunches and ran his claws over his spines. Naruto then took note of Rarity, who had put quite a bit of jewelry on her person.

"I'd be more than happy to watch your gems while you're gone..."

The wyrm growled immediately. "**I may have hatched at night, but it wasn't _last_ night!**"

With surprising quickness, the dragon slammed his forearm into the floor between Rarity and his horde, dragging that portion back to the main pile. Rarity giggled nervously before running back towards the mouth, dropping the precious items she tried to pilfer. The wyrm then slammed his fist down on the Naruto clone, dispelling it immediately.

00000

_Why do I suddenly know what it's like to be crushed to death?_ Naruto wondered as Rarity made it outside.

As the white mare started lamenting about her inability to snag some gems (to the irritation of Twilight), the blonde ninja noticed Pinkie Pie wearing some sort of strange getup over her ninja outfit. She was wearing what looked like a gift box, some really big sunglasses, eight balloons tied to her tail, and a flipper on each hoof. Her veil had been removed to make room for the kazoo she held in her lips.

As Twilight chastised Rarity, Naruto sent a clone with Pinkie as she entered the mouth of the cave.

All the mares stopped arguing when they heard Pinkie blow on her kazoo and yell out "Hi!"

The dragon roared and the sound of popping balloons was heard. Pinkie was sent rocketing out of the cavern landing on her back. The box costume was badly damaged, none of the balloons had survived, and the sunglasses were missing a lens.

"Good thing your clone was there," Pinkie groaned. "I might have suffered broken bones if he hadn't jumped in the way."

Rolling onto her hooves, she added: "I don't think he likes sharing. Or laughter."

"That's IT!" yelled Rainbow, catching the attention of all the others. "We've tried persuasion, charm, whatever it is Pinkie Pie does-" She pumped her hoof. "-and none of them have worked. Diplomacy has failed!"

She rushed into the cave ignoring Applejack's shout of protest.

"GET OUT!" they heard her shout just before a crashing sound. The sound was followed by a roar. One of Naruto's clones switched with Ranbow inside the cave just as the interior lit up with dragonfire. The blonde winced as he suddenly knew how roasting alive would feel like.

His remaining clones scattered before the wyrm charged out of the cave. Seven was flitting about the dragon's head, turning to smoke on multiple occasions, trying his best to stick a blade in the dragon's eye. Furious, the wyrm snapped his jaws, clamping the tip of Seven's tail between his lips, forcing the opliptera to turn solid. He swung his head as he released the Night Guard's appendage, sending the opliptera crashing into a charging Applejack. The wyrm slapped Rainbow out of the sky with a wing as he used his tail to knock Twilight and Rarity off of their feet. Pinkie tried jumping at his neck, a gigantic, sharpened baker's peel swinging to lop off the dragon's head.

Of course, the dragon objected to that and punched Pinkie with his left claw, his right catching the utensil by the handle. The unfortunate mare was sent straight into the pile of other ponies, forcing them to tumble into a boulder. Applejack's head was the first thing to hit it, causing it to crack and crumble to dust.

As the wyrm was going to attack the dazed equines, he found his muzzle clamped shut against his will. His wings were painfully tied down to his sides, as his tail was rendered immobile. Each of his claws was pulled away from his center. He turned his head to see a number of Narutos each holding a wire restraining different part of his body. Just as he was about to thrash around, a yellow and pink something landed on his snout.

"How dare you!?" growled Fluttershy. "HOW DARE YOU!?"

He was so shocked by the anger in the little pony's voice that he stopped struggling immediately. It also didn't help that the gemstone on her throat was glowing.

"Just because you're big, it doesn't mean that you get to hurt my friends!" She stomped along his face until she was right in his eye. "You got that!?"

He frowned before she yelled at him. Her necklace responded by shining brightly.

"DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME!?"

He swallowed. "**Yes.**" He quickly regained his nerve. "**But that rainbow one kicked me!**"

"And I'm very sorry about that," she replied with less heat. "But that doesn't give you the right to retaliate with violence. Besides, you're bigger than her - you should know better."

Naruto cocked his head for a moment, confused while the dragon stammered a response.

"**But I-**"

"Don't you 'but I' me, mister!"

Upside-down to the wyrm's perspective, Naruto peeked into his vision. "You should listen to the lady."

The dragon looked up with his eyes to see the human ninja standing on his brow, a naked katana poised to stab him in the eye. A quick glance at the semi-conscious lavender mare showed that across her back was an empty sheath.

"Besides," Fluttershy began, regaining the wyrm's attention, "you should know better than to take your nap where your smoke may cause a health hazard to creatures weaker than you."

"**Hn,**" he murmured. "**Very well. Release me from my bonds and I will move my lair.**"

While Fluttershy smiled, Naruto frowned. "I didn't hear you say you wouldn't kill us once we released you, Scaley."

Just before Fluttershy could chastise Naruto, the wyrm chuckled. "**Smart boy. I suppose you would need some form of insurance?**"

Naruto had a sudden flash of inspiration. "Your Contract."

The dragon grinned. "**Indeed. I could let you sign the Contract, but only if you agree to summon me for fights that are worth my time.**"

"Deal," said another Naruto who stepped out from behind a rock outcropping.

Smirking, the dragon's right claw glowed. Suddenly, a scroll appeared within its clutches. Naruto walked up to the claw and took the roll of parchment nearly as big as he was and unfurled it on the ground.

"**Write your name in your own blood and make a handprint in blood with the hand you will be summoning me with,**" instructed the wyrm.

Naruto paused. He figured that he might be limited to just two different contracts, one for each hand. He decided that he should summon this dragon with his left hand rather than his right (which he would keep reserved for the Pony Contract, if they would have him).

As soon as Naruto had placed the handprint on the scroll, it rolled shut and disappeared in a flash of light.

"**Uzumaki Naruto? Interesting name. I am Basil of the Scorched Sky family. The Scorched Sky is nine flights' strong!**"

Naruto's clones began to approach the dragon, allowing the wires to have slack. The Naruto on Basil's head started unwrapping the wire holding the dragon's jaw shut, Twilight's katana over his shoulder.

When the various ponies had finally disentangled themselves from each other, Seven left the group to approach the real Naruto. "Was this your plan the whole time?"

"No, but I realized that Basil could catch us if we tried to flee. I had to change the plan on the fly."

"And signing his Contract?"

"Bonus loot."

00000

End Chapter Two.

Next chapter: return to Konoha. With Pinkie.

Author's Notes

Time sure flies when real life keeps dumping stuff on you. I was going to get this out sooner, but... yeah.

Anyway, thank you Dumbledork for correcting my mistakes.

The term "opliptera" was lifted from [url= /story/6535/what-must-be-done]What Must be Done[/url] by Vargras.

Not much to say regarding the chapter, so how about a life update?  
- Got new computer for Christmas.  
- We were going to move during Feb/March, but we decided against it.  
- Got our tax return in.  
- No longer in debt.  
- Our roomie lost her job due to her boss' stupidity.  
- Got a boatload of Magic: the Gathering cards for my 27th birthday.  
- Another plotbunny keeps bothering me. I'll start working on it soon.  
- It actually snowed in Tucson on the 20th of February.

Thanks for all the support. To quote Dusty: "Stay manly my friends."


	3. Evaluations

**Your Summon is Pink**

by 5007

Disclaimer: most ponies can't eat meat.

Chapter Three: Evaluations

00000

Basil took off, circling Whistling Peak once before departing for another mountain range. The old dragon had seemed rather smug about the whole ordeal and looked pleased with himself despite the fact that he had been ousted from his own nest.

"You'll have to pardon me," Seven said. "I am to report to the Princesses immediately. You all must report to Princess Luna for debriefing as soon as possible."

He saluted, putting his right hoof on his brow, and suddenly sped off before anyone could say anything.

"Impressive," Dash observed. "I wonder how he'd compare to Spitfire."

"Who?" Naruto asked.

"The Captain of the Wonderbolts," whispered Rarity. "Don't let Rainbow know you don't know much about them."

"Or I may talk your ears off," the aforementioned pegasus stage-whispered right behind the fashionista.

The white unicorn shrieked and her horn glowed a sky blue, swinging one of her scrolls at the weatherpony. Rainbow dodged the fabric roll easily, giggling like a maniac. Naruto joined in the mirth with a laugh of his own.

00000

It took another hour to get to the base of Whistling Peak. Six pegasus knights were standing around a skycarriage, which was attached to another half-dozen pegasi.

"Ms. Sparkle?" barked one of the knights. "We are to escort you and your friends to Canterlot immediately. The Princesses specifically required the presence of the human as well."

"I _have_ a name," Naruto snapped before yawning. Infuriatingly, the Day Guard ignored him entirely as he opened the skycarriage door for the mares.

00000

The eight companions (including the rabbit) were quickly ushered into the throne room by their Day Guard escorts. Both Princesses sat on their thrones, Meteor Strike flanking Celestia's seat. Between the thrones stood Shining Armor while an opliptera in silvery, ornate armor stood to Luna's left. Seven stood next to that pony, slightly behind the larger Night Guard.

"Naruto," Celestia began as soon as the pegasi knights brought the group closer. "I have heard about your performance in your mission from Seven. I must ask: do you regret any decisions you made today?"

"No," he replied. "I don't."

Luna nodded. "Evening approaches in our world. It is surely the middle of the night if not the break of dawn in thine. Thou must be exhausted. We shall send thee to thy home and will call thee back when a final decision has been made."

"Wait, what?"

Celestia spoke up. "We need time to debrief the Bearers, review the information we have collected about you, and discuss whatever issues we may have. Rest assured, we will send Pinkie Pie to your world with you so that we can summon you back."

"But..."

Before he could voice his objections, Pinkie gave him a hug.

"It'll be okay, Naruto," she murmured. "We can still be friends if it's a no-go!"

"That's right, darling," agreed Rarity. "And you still have Lord Basil's contract regardless of the Princesses' decision."

Naruto gave an involuntary yawn before he could answer. "You're right," he finally said. "I need sleep and they need time."

"'Tis settled then," stated Luna. "Pinkamena, if thou wouldst do the honors of taking Naruto home?"

"Okie-dokie-lokie!"

00000

Again, Naruto had the unpleasant sensation of being collapsed into a single point before expanding while on fire. The coughing fit from the chakra smoke didn't last as long though. He looked around the room as the haze thinned. He saw his three-legged couch where he had left it near the scratched-up coffee table, both near the wall where the long-dead mold spot resided.

The ceiling had cracks in it, duct tape sealing the more prominent holes. Luckily, Naruto had been able to keep the floor clean. Relatively. The bloodstain in the carpet had been there already when he had moved in. At least the windows were intact and clean and the doors were solid, strong, and had massive deadbolts.

"This is your place?" Pinkie gasped.

"I told you yours was better than mine."

"But still! Why haven't your parents repaired the place yet?"

Naruto paused. "You're gonna want to sit down, Pinks."

00000

"Thank you for your report, Seven," said Captain One of the Night Guard. "Do you ladies have anything to add?"

"I do," Twilight immediately spoke up. "I saw the way he looked at the books in my library before we went on our mission..."

00000

The large, red wyrm approached the crater. Unlike the calderas most dragons liked to congregate in, the Scorched Sky dragons typically met in meteor crash sites.

Basil landed heavily, crumbling the loose gravel beneath his feet as thirty other dragons turned their attentions towards him.

"**Brother?**" began a yellow wyrm only slightly smaller than Basil. "**We thought that you'd be taking a century-long slumber? Why are you awake?**"

The red dragon smiled, showing all of his fangs. "**Ponies, dear Cayenne. Ponies and a **_**human.**_"

If the other wyrms hadn't been paying attention to Basil and Cayenne, they certainly were at that point.

00000

Pinkie was starting to freak Naruto out. Her left eye was twitching but otherwise she was completely silent and still.

Naruto opened his mouth to say something when the mare suddenly tackled him. He found himself enveloped in an equine super-hug.

"I really hope the Princesses let you sign the contract so that we can be your family because I can't imagine the heartache of not having one. Even though I don't really speak to mine anymore, I do know that they are there to help if I ever need it," she babbled.

Naruto could hardly breathe, but he could feel the affection Pinkie wished to give him. He tried to return the hug as best as he could.

00000

"So he's not _stupid_, just uneducated," surmised Captain Meteor Strike. "What kind of schools do they have in the human world, again?"

"Apparently, ones that are far inferior to our standards," stated Celestia. "Thank you for your speculation, Twilight. Very insightful."

"Ah have som'fin ta add, Yer Highness," began Applejack. "Ah thought he was more stubborn than a mule at first, but lookin' back on it, I figure he puts his squadmates' lives ahead of the mission."

"Seven mentioned as much in his report," said Captain One.

"Dropping all extrapolation -" began Rainbow Dash, "- and yes, Twi, I know what that word means - I realized that he puts the lives of others ahead of his own."

"He never put himself directly in danger," retorted the opliptera captain. "It was just his shadow clones."

Rainbow bristled at that. "We already said he isn't _stupid_; I'm saying he's loyal to a fault."

00000

The valley around the crater howled with draconic laughter, scaring many of the local fauna.

Chuckling, Basil continued his story. "**And guess what the human did when I agreed to their terms for leaving.**"

Cayenne snorted. "**What?**"

"**He assumed that I was going to kill them as I left - which was quite the entertaining thought, I must admit. He demanded some sort of assurance that he and the ponies would live. A shrewd child, to say the least.**"

As the laughter died down, an old, white wyrm picked up his head. "**And what did you give him?**"

"**I felt that such ingenuity to be able to trap me and coerce a **_**dragon**_** into doing what he wanted deserved a large reward. I let the little human sign my contract.**"

"**Appropriate,**" said an old cerulean dragon. "**Now to business: odd happenings have begun to show in our world.**"

"**Indeed,**" confirmed the white. "**First of all, the Titans have awoken.**"

Murmuring was the immediate response. After a short while, Basil spoke up.

"**There is a new Sixpath Sage?**"

"**I believe that a human has inherited the abilities of the Sixpath, but not his wisdom.**"

"**Agreed,**" stated an old orange wyrm. "**Several of the Titans are behaving oddly. ****They are wearing a plethora of piercings now and their emotions are gone, as if they'd lost most of their personality**."

"**It is as if they are being controlled,**" continued the cerulean. "**The few Titans who do not have piercings are constantly attacking those that do. Every month another Titan disappears for a week and returns with vast slabs of metal sticking out of their face.**"

"**Needless to say, the Hellmouth to Tartarus will be completely unguarded by the end of the year,**" stated the white. "**Without the Titans, our world could be overrun by demons.**"

The cerulean wyrm nodded. "**We need volunteers to keep watch and not allow anything in or out.**"

Basil extended his wings. "**I'll be the first to step forward.**"

The cerulean thumped her tail against the ground. "**You cannot. ****Your contract has been signed**. You could be summoned at any time. Stand down, Basil."

As Basil folded his wings, Cayenne extended hers. "**I'll go. I'm among the best of the Scorched Sky when it comes to our slipscale abilities.**"

Three more adults volunteered. All four dragons folded their membranous wings.

"**We shall meet again at this crater in three fortnights,**" declared the old orange dragon.

00000

Pinkie was still awake. The mare had been thinking about what Naruto had told her about his life. More than that, she was thinking about what he _hadn't_ told her. She had also noticed that his apartment was lacked quality. To put it bluntly, it was a dump, even if Naruto had done his best to fix them up a bit.

She nearly gave control to the _other_ just to avoid the heartache, but she wasn't certain that the ninja boy would understand the presence of another in her mind.

_Indeed,_ hissed the other, _but he may be more understanding than you give him credit for. Or he may not. Wait and see._

Pinkie shook her head before she noticed a silhouette moving outside the living room window through the predawn light. It was another human standing on the sill. It inched towards the bedroom window. The pink mare narrowed her eyes before creeping to the door to Naruto's room. Rather than open the door (because the boy kept the hinges rusty and squeaky as an alert system), she used some of her unique skills and squeezed herself through the crack under the door. The silhouette was making quick work of picking the lock on Naruto's bedroom window.

The lock gave a barely audible click before the window glided open. A black-robed figure wearing a stylized tiger mask made of white porcelain quickly slid into the room before silently closing the window. It stared at the sleeping form of Naruto for several long moments before nodding. As the mysterious person turned back towards the window, its vision went black as a pie was shoved into its face.

Naruto woke to the sound of a crumpling pie tin and rolled over, kunai in hand, to see Pinkie hogtieing what appeared to be an ANBU whose head was splattered with cream that obviously came from the mashed pie lying on the floor. Glad to have avoided a pointless fight with another disgruntled drunkard he took the time to slowly stretch his arms before taking a look at the pony's prisoner, he took the opportunity to look at the pony's prisoner.

"Pinkie, I think that's an ANBU," he said.

"A what now?"

"ANBU. They're like the Night Guard, but for a Kage."

"Huh," she muttered.

"Still, we need to find out if he's a Konoha ANBU or not."

The black-robed figure felt the mask come off of his face but he still couldn't see due to all of the - he quickly took a small taste of the pie filling - banana crème that made it through the eyeholes of his mask.

"Well, I don't know his face, but his mask has the Konoha leaf on it. Why are you here, Tora-san?"

He spoke quickly. "The Hokage tasked me with watching your apartment in case you returned from the summon realm. I was confirming that the slumbering body in the bed was yours, and not some thrill-seeking civilian."

00000

The appearance of a human boy amongst the ponies happening shortly after the Titans began to fall seemed to be too much of a coincidence to Basil. The fifteen-hundred-year-old wyrm simply loved stories and would often scry just to eavesdrop on the other summon races. The Salamander King was complaining to his children about his summoner, again, but it appeared that the rebels in Amegakure no Sato suddenly had new summons to back up their raids. The Snakes were gearing up for some sort of battle, trying to starve themselves so that they might be able to gorge themselves on their prey.

Too many coincidences. Basil couldn't help but think that all these events seemed to fit together into some form of cohesive narrative. Regardless, the humans were preparing for war. If Naruto was smart, Basil would be summoned to take down an army. If the boy was clever, the dragon would face another summon.

Basil grinned at the thought - he hadn't participated in a war since the fall of King Sombra. The wyrm was ready and willing to commit _violence_.

00000

Tenzo was glad Naruto let him go. While the boy was still a little naïve when it came to potential spies, this meant that the ANBU Captain could give his report to the Hokage.

"Enter."

Closing the door to the Hokage's office behind him, Tenzo saluted his superior with a fist to his chest.

"Please tell me you have good news," sighed the old man behind the desk before he took a long pull from his coffee mug. "And why do you have some form of white stuff staining your cloak?"

"Naruto is sleeping at his apartment while the pink pony summon watches over him. This is pie filling she used to defend him."

"Thank the kami," Hiruzen whispered.

"I don't think he's signed their contract yet," Tenzo continued. "He muttered something about some form of test they gave him."

"They're probably evaluating his performance," the Hokage said. "The pony is there to take him back when they've come to a decision."

"Oh?" Unspoken was Tenzo's question as to how the Hokage knew that.

The old man chuckled. "It is why some of the Sarutobi do not have their signatures on the Monkey Contract."

00000

Naruto yawned as he stretched. His alarm clock read "11:08AM" in red LED. He supposed he had slept long enough.

As his door creaked open, he saw Pinkie at the stove, cooking something in a huge wok he'd never seen before.

"Pinkie?"

"Mornin', Naruto. I'm making brunch!"

"I could just heat up some ramen - it'd be faster and less work," he replied, trying to be a good host and not make his guest do anything.

A blue eye became fixed on him as Pinkie turned her head. "Can't have you eating just ramen. Besides, all the ramen you have is meat-flavored."

"Why is that a problem?"

Pinkie let go of the wok and the spoon she was stirring with before turning around with a deadpan expression on her face.

After several seconds, Naruto's palm made a resounding "thwack" against his forehead. Pinkie laughed.

00000

"I am in favor of granting permission to summon us to young Naruto."

"I am not so certain, Luna. He seems rather arrogant. We'll have to see what Pinkie Pie says when she brings him back in a few hours. In the meantime, I need to take a nap."

"Sleep well, dear Sister. As in ages past, I shall watch the night."

00000

Naruto never knew that potatoes could taste so good. Nor did he know about oatmeal. While the fried vegetable medley Pinkie had made was kind of boring to the blonde, he ate it anyway (especially since Pinkie kept staring at him, her lips quivering and tears threatening to leave her eyes until he took a bite of it). He was also surprised that ponies could (and would) eat eggs.

"So," Pinkie began, "you say that the current Hokage is like a grandpa to you. Do you have any father figures?"

Naruto thought about it for a moment. "Not really. Kakashi-sensei might be one, but all he does is bring me fresh bowls of fruit. He's helped me with my taijutsu during our team training sessions, but he hasn't really done anything a father might. And Teuchi treats me like a favorite customer, not a son."

"Anyone other than the Ichiraku family?"

"Well, Iruka-sensei is kind of like my brother, and the Hokage's grandson, Konohamaru, is the annoying little brother I never wanted."

Pinkie giggled briefly. "But no one else?"

"Not really."

There was a knock at Naruto's door, temporarily suspending the conversation. Naruto got up and looked at a round, metal disk next to the door. He used a finger to move the disk to reveal a pipe with a mirror inside. With his other hand, he pressed a small button under the pipe to turn on a small light. Judging by the low output of said light, Pinkie realized it was a light bulb from an old oven. Hardly any lumens were produced by the bulb, but it was enough for Naruto to see in the mirror, which was reflecting what another mirror was catching from a hole down the hall, angled in such a way that Naruto could see the back of the person at the door.

After a few seconds, the woman at the door knocked again. Naruto recognized her as one of the Chuunin who commonly passed messages along from the Hokage Tower. Releasing both the disk and the button (which extinguished the bulb), he unlocked the four deadbolts on his door, and then opened it.

"Uzumaki-san," the kunoichi stated with her usual indifference. "The Hokage wishes to see you immediately. He also requests that you bring the 'pony', whatever that means."

She then simply turned around and started heading down the hall.

Shaking his head, Naruto turned to talk to Pinkie to find she was gone. He then heard another knock on his door. It was unusual in its pattern. Five taps followed by two more. It made some form of rhythm Naruto had never heard of before. Double-checking the custom peephole, he saw the pink mare waiting on the other side.

Raising an eyebrow, he opened the door again. "What'd you do?"

"If she's not going to really care about talking to you, I figured she should have something to actually talk about next time."

"... what?"

He heard a loud pop coming from the first floor of the building followed by an angry cry that sounded a great deal like his name.

"The mailmares in Equestria will at least ask how their clients are doing. She seemed waaaaaay too bored when she was talking to you."

"I see," he said, though he really didn't understand. "What'd you do _to_ her?"

"Snot-green paint bomb."

00000

Other ninja that saw them paused in their own roof-hopping routes to see the strangely-colored equine following the village pariah to the Hokage Tower, the seat of power in Konohagakure no Sato. Several even went through the general genjutsu dispel technique, trying to make sure that the boy wasn't trying to prank them again. The foreign ninja in the village were also confused as to Pinkie's presence, but they were less discreet in their gawking at an apparent "ninja horse" running around with a Genin.

When they arrived at the Tower, they had to jump down to street level for security purposes. The many civilians that made their living at the shops near the tower, as well as the line of petitioners, glared at Naruto, ignoring the pink pony entirely. While they had never seen a pony summon before (and few even guessed that she was a summon), they merely attributed her existence as a "damn ninja" thing and ignored her in favor of directing as much silent hate as possible towards the blond preteen.

Naruto was unfazed by their reaction, having dealt with such animosity his entire life. Pinkie, on the other hand (or hoof, in this case), was quite taken aback by the behavior of the citizens of the very city Naruto had sworn to protect. She was definitely going to report this behavior to the Princesses.

Ignoring the idiots trying to kill him with their thoughts, he simply walked right up to the only visible Chuunin guard. Said shinobi was smiling at the boy. As Naruto approached, he raised an eyebrow, silently questioning the guard's good humor. The man merely looked to the ground where a trail of sickly-green paint led into the building.

_Oh,_ Naruto realized. _He thinks that_ I _pranked the kunoichi who came to get me._

The Chuunin was surprised to see Pinkie, but he let her pass through without a word. Naruto could hear the argument a civilian began making as he and the mare crossed the threshold into the building.

"Why does that worthless demon-child get to go ahead of me!? I'm a leading member of the Agricultural Association!"

"He had an appointment," replied the guard in an even, but vaguely threatening, tone. "I _strongly_ suggest you stop making a ruckus."

They didn't hear the irate farmer's retort as they had gotten too far into the building. The receptionist on the first floor looked up from her paperwork long enough to tell Naruto to go right up to the Hokage's Office, but didn't really give him much attention. Pinkie took note of that and tried to make certain she'd remember the clerk's face. The secretary on the eleventh floor actually smiled at Naruto.

"Just had to cover Miss Tanaka in paint, didn't you?" she playfully jibed, shaking her head. "Go ahead and announce yourself - the Hokage's waiting for you."

0000

Shining entered the office of his equal in the Night Guard.

"What is it?" droned the opliptera captain, using his membranous wings to help sort his paperwork.

"Captain One," the unicorn began, "I take it that you do not approve of Naruto."

"He's too reckless, Captain Armor. He should have retreated with the Bearers back to Ponyville where they would have had a chance to bring their Militia to bear against Lord Basil."

"And potentially killed the dragon? What about the ponies _in_ Ponyville? Do you think that we'd have zero casualties?"

One looked up from his paperwork. "Of course not. But he made risky decisions based on what intelligence he had. While his methods were effective, and produced absolutely no casualties on either side, his actions were not the product of a logical mind."

Shining Armor glared at the opliptera. One bore his fangs, revealing his transformed teeth.

"You've become colder since you ceased to be an earth pony, Thornmane."

One closed his mouth. Much like Seven, One did not like being referred to by his original name when he was working.

"My apologies, _Captain_," he hissed. "The transformation to opliptera changed my diet and brain chemistry. I needed to find a way to control my new hunger and aggression."

"You should listen to your instincts anyway. Some of the time," the white stallion stated evenly. "Besides, you of all ponies should know that battle plans never survive first contact with the enemy."

One's hoof traced the scar that ran over his left eye. "It's been difficult to adapt to the enchantments on this glass orb."

Shining nodded. "I'm aware that the prosthetic eyes never feel quite right, nor do they see in the entire color spectrum that our real ones do. Many veterans have complained about that to me."

The opliptera sighed. "I'll think over the human's performance again."

00000

"Tell me, Naruto," Hiruzen started, "why have you started pranking my messengers again?"

"That was me," Pinkie chirped. "She wasn't very enthusiastic about seeing him."

As the old man puffed a few times on his pipe, Naruto decided to speak up.

"She was insulted by that," he said. "The messengers in her world like to make small talk."

"Anyway," the mare continued, "pranking helps a ninja practice on trap-making. Why shouldn't he continue to prank those who deserve it?"

"His pranks do not attract the sort of attention that he needs," argued the Hokage before he turned to the blonde. "Your behavior prior to being assigned to Team Kakashi perpetuated the animosity that the populace had for you. It does not garner respect amongst the civilians."

"What is wrong with those meanies anyway!?" Pinkie growled as she hopped up onto the Hokage's desk to glare into the old man's face. "He's an orphan with an abnormal amount of chakra - so what? I take exception to the fact that they direct so much hate at him!"

"It is because of _what_ he is," Hiruzen stated calmly. "And what he is is classified. Only Naruto himself has the security clearance to tell you about it."

"Pinkie," Naruto pleaded. "It's okay. Really."

"NO IT ISN'T!" she shouted, tears streaming down her face. Suddenly, her poofy hair straightened out and went limp, the sound of a deflating balloon coming from somewhere. Naruto, Hiruzen, and the hidden ANBU guard all noticed that her colors became more muted. Her demeanor had instantly switched to being calm, though her face still held some traces of emotional pain. She sighed before speaking, with a slightly different inflection to her voice.

"Well, we were going to try to hide my existence for a while longer," she stated as she stepped off of the desk. "But that plan is obviously a bust. Allow me to introduce myself: I am Pinkamena, Pinkie's coping mechanism for all the horrible things in the world." She paused, apparently in thought. "World_s_. Plural, as this is our first time in your world."

The Hokage took another long drag off of his pipe. "You are a split-personality?"

"Yes," she replied. "No one else really knows of my existence. Just you three and Pinkie."

"Three?" questioned Naruto.

"That ANBU mask on the wall there is really another ANBU."

Naruto looked at it for a few seconds, long enough for it to nod at him.

"Gah!"

Ignoring him, Hiruzen spoke to Pinkamena. "You may be able to understand Naruto's situation better than I anticipated. Rather, Pinkie will. Naruto?" That got the boy's attention. "I strongly suggest you tell her about what you are."

Naruto stared at the floor for several minutes before he looked the mare in the eyes.

"It's the worst-kept secret in Konoha. I'm a Jinchuuriki."

00000

"So you have a growling, grumpy voice living inside you that was once responsible for the destruction of half of Konoha. That does not excuse the behavior of those ignorant morons in the street." She turned to the Hokage as Naruto tried to process that attitude. "I imagine that the cover-up almost thirteen years ago was an intelligence nightmare."

"Indeed. But, back to the original topic, I do not approve of Naruto returning to his reign of terror. His pranks are only going to hurt his reputation in the long run."

Pinkamena snorted. "If his reputation is at the bottom of the totem-pole anyway, then pranking the village at large can't make it any worse. Besides, as long as he doesn't hurt anybody, nor impede their ability to perform their duties, nor impede his own, then he should do whatever he wishes to to relax. Regardless, you can turn it into a program to improve the security of your city."

"You make a fair point," the old man conceded. He turned to the blonde. "Naruto? Once the Chuunin Exams are over and the foreign dignitaries and ninja leave, I will approve of whatever pranks you can perform. I'll even have a budget set aside to reimburse you for whatever materials you use, within reason."

"Uhhh, okay."

All of a sudden, Pinkamena hopped up onto her hind hooves. Balancing, her ears twitched. "We are being summoned back to Canterlot."

She shook her head, the sound of a kazoo being played briefly coming from somewhere. Her hair returned to its extra-poofy state while her colors became more vibrant. Landing on all fours, Pinkie smiled at Naruto.

"Princess Luna wants to speak with us!" she cheered. Turning to the Hokage, she said, "I'm sorry, but we have to go!"

Without waiting for a reply, her tail wrapped around Naruto's waist and they disappeared in an explosion of chakra-smoke.

After a moment of silence as the smoke cleared, the old man muttered "Luna? I thought their Princess was named Celestia."

00000

"Before we come to a decision," Celestia began, "I wish for Pinkie to tell me about the observations she's made."

The pink mare stepped forward from her group of friends to stand next to Naruto in front of the thrones and the Captains, removing her veil from her face as she did so.

She began to recount her experiences in a very animated fashion, noting especially Naruto's living conditions and how the civilian populace in Konoha treated him (but excluding the existence of her other self). As she mentioned the glares and animosity directed at a nearly-thirteen-year-old boy, the sunlight filtering in through the windows became brighter for a brief instant.

"- and then the Hokage told me _why_ they treated him like that. It's still a stupid reason though," she growled before switching back to an energetic tone. "I'd tell you what it is, but I respect Naruto's privacy and he's the only one allowed to do so."

"Can you give a hint?" asked Captain Meteor Strike.

"Only that he was born on the same day that a biju attacked Konoha."

Murmurs were heard amongst the guards and the mares from Ponyville. The princesses turned to one another and brought their horns together. A faint shimmer of magic passed between the horns.

They had been at it for a few minutes and the longer their spellwork was taking, the more nervous Naruto became. The deep-rooted fear of rejection tried to claw its way to the forefront of Naruto's mind. The only reason why he calmed down was that Pinkie started nuzzling his arm.

The sisters' spell ceased and they turned as one to face Naruto. Luna spoke, silencing the murmurs coming from around the room.

"All facts considered thou wouldst make for a mediocre summoner, Uzumaki Naruto. However, thy ability to learn quickly gives us reason to hope that thou wouldst be able to improve thyself with training and conditioning."

"A mitigating circumstance," continued Celestia, "is your stunted emotional growth. I personally feel that you need us for emotional reasons more than for combat effectiveness. I was unsure about it before, but now I wholly approve of having you become our summoner."

Luna's horn started shining with an indigo aura. With a crack of displaced air, a scroll materialized in front of Naruto. Guided by the moon goddess's magic, the parchment unrolled itself in front of Naruto to show a contract empty of names.

"**WE PRESENT UZUMAKI NARUTO, THE FIRST PONY SUMMONER!**"

"OW!" complained Shining Armor as he massaged his ears with his hooves. "A little warning next time, please."

00000

End Chapter Three.

Next Chapter: reading seven books at once!

Author's Note

You know how a writer can get distracted from writing when they find something awesome to read? That's one excuse I'm going with. The other is the fact that I needed to adjust to a more hectic work schedule. I had forty hours for a while, and then it got bumped down to twenty-nine and now I'm back up to thirty-five.

In other news, my story about the pony Bluegrass (which I've mentioned once on FiMFiction dot net) keeps trying to force its way into the forefront my mind. "The Laughing Fox" is fighting me at the moment, so I'm letting it stew for a bit until it starts cooperating again. And the story "Conundrum" (which is a FiMFiction exclusive) keeps trying to demand my attention as well.

Not much to say about this chapter though. Well, aside from the fact that Naruto fans might be able to hazard a guess as to what the Titans are and what's happening to them.

I know that someone suggested that I read some other Naruto/MLP: FiM crosses for inspiration, but I seriously don't want to pull ideas from what anyone else is doing. Nor do I even want to be accused of such when I do it on accident. That's happened to my wife, LA Knight, a couple of times (even though she hadn't actually read the chapter that she was allegedly plagiarizing). Speaking of which, are there any readers of mine who thought that Prince Nuada's death in "Hellboy II: the Golden Army" was wasteful or dissatisfying? You may want to read her story, "Once Upon a Time"(fanfiction dot net/s/5161461/1/Once-Upon-a-Time) as it is going to try and fix that. Eventually. It's nearly a hundred chapters already (which won't take long for some of you to finish). It also makes all sorts of references to other media. I suppose you could make a game of trying to name all the references in each chapter before you get to her AN's at the bottom (where she lists them all for each chapter).

Shameless plugs aside, I hope to try and actually get back into the swing of writing enough that I can have a legitimate update schedule again.

Thanks to Dumbledork for his ability to turn this stupid idea into something readable (there were a _lot_ of errors in this chapter).


End file.
